.. “in the wood” in England meant using locally found plant based and natural dyestuffs without alteration or use of mordants.
The poor had natural colors; whites, blacks, browns, grays, and tans dyed onto fibers like wool or flax also available locally.
The rich had the resources of the exotic Woad, Weld, Madder, Purpurea, Saffron, Indigo, Cochineal, and many others.
(Portrait: early 1700’s, complex dyes for rich and noble)